God didn’t give us good memories so we could look back and regret that we can’t go back and relive them. He gave us good memories as a gift so we can look back repeatedly and smile and be glad we had them.
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Soulmate
By countless trees we walk,
Its limbs hold many years,
The leaves bend knowing nods,
of lifetimes we have shared.
My love for you an endless stream,
That flows within my heart,
To You I give my soul,
That we many never part.
Through time and space I’ve called to you,
The wind it carried my voice,
Upon the mountains and hilltops to shout,
An echo of love most rejoiced.
In dreams we’ve floated upon the sea,
And saw a setting sun kneel,
How awesome, complete, and whole,
For that is how you make me feel.
Come soar with me on eagle’s wings,
And dance above the clouds,
When whipping winds of life o’er take,
You catch me when I’m blown down.
At night we’ve met upon the shore<
And lain on sleepy sand,
Our spirits rose and love we’ve made,
To the music of nature’s band.
Each lifetime blooms from God above,
Like every spring His hand creates,
How golden and cherished are you,
My love, my life, my soulmate.
By L. M. Montes
Love’s Breath
Love is joyful,
Love is pain,
Love, a sweet smelling flower,
Pulls me to its scent,
And kills me with its breath.
Love stabs me with sharp petals,
And lashes, with fiery forest green leaves.
With every torturous gasp I take,
I whither.
Love’s entrancing, enticing entity,
Takes me in,
Holds me,
Stabs me,
Caresses me,
Cuts me.
This seesaw love,
It plagues me,
My head it whirls and twirls about,
Love stalks my smitten soul.
By L. M. Montes
Fear
What are you afraid of? Heights? Small places? Hospitals? Success? Failure? Sometimes, what we are afraid of can hold us back. When that happens, nothing happens. Let’s pick on fear of success. I know. It doesn’t seem like a plausible fear, but it is. Although, I’m willing to bet the person who has this fear is most likely not aware of it. I’m not a psychiatrist/psychologist. I fear many things. At least growing up I did. As an adult I still do. It’s something I struggle with sometimes. I end up having to talk myself into trying new things.
Fear of failure is one of those fears. I have to remind myself that I won’t succeed if I don’t try. Or, I tell myself, ‘But what if I succeed instead of fail. Again, I won’t know unless I try’. Getting over one’s fears isn’t easy. But, it can be done. Trying is the key. At least that’s been my experience anyway.
YOU CAN DO IT
The Tight Rope of Story Telling
We write and we edit. We try to get the story on paper or the computer screen, then we go back when we’re finished and edit what we’ve written. That’s how it’s supposed to be done anyway. Does that always happen in that order? No. Not always. There are times when we try to edit as we type. The left side of our brain wants to insert itself at the same time our right side of the brain is trying to be imaginative and creative. This process can cause you to slow down when you’re trying to come up with a story.
Let’s say you’re a paragraph into writing a scene. So far you like it, but then the analytical side of your brain (left) is saying ‘No, no. That won’t work’. You go back and rewrite parts of that paragraph. You like what you came up with and move on to the next paragraph. You’re a couple of sentences into the second paragraph when your analytical side starts rethinking what you rewrote in the first paragraph. So, you go back and look at it but aren’t sure how you want to fix it. You end up sitting there thinking. Your fingers start strumming on your desk and you lean back in your chair and stare at the ceiling. An hour later you haven’t fixed anything, nor have you moved on with your writing. Had you waited to fix what your analytical side of your brain wanted to fix, you would have been MUCH further on in your story. You may have even gotten a chapter done.
How many of you can relate to the scenario above. I know it’s happened to me at times. So, how do we turn off the left side of our brain and make its impatient self wait? It’s quite easy actually. You make it wait. Turn it off. If you don’t like something you’ve just written, make a note of it so you can go back at a later date and fix it when you’re not writing. Choose a specific day and time when that’s all you’re going to do is edit and fix.
Loosen the “rope” when you’re creating and “tighten” it back up when you’re editing.
Jesus Is Always With Us
Matthew 28:19-20
“Therefore go and make desciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
One Starry Night
One starry night I lay beneath the sky,
the crickets strummed their violins so sweet,
dewy drops tickled,
the cool it prickled,
the moon man smiled up high.
The Crying None
In a previous post I wrote about writing a critique and how easy it is not. Well, receiving them can be difficult too. We want to hear that our writing/story/novel is good/great/excellent or even a masterpiece. The truth is, yes, some will give you accolades like that. But, some won’t. Some individuals don’t know how to be diplomatic and spell things out in a constructive less hurtful way. They are blunt about the negatives in your writing. Well, I say…….LET THEM. Yes, I said let them. It hurts, yes. But you can’t stop them. So, don’t cry about something you have no control over.
I have read reviews of other authors that ripped their story/novel to shreds (so to speak). Did that affect the author any? NO. It did NOT. The author moved on with her writing. She continued. Her books are still published and most of her readers LOVE her writing, including me.
Sift through the criticism that helps you. Learn from the feedback reviewers give you. How can you make your writing better as a result of using their suggestions. Will you use every piece of advice they give you? No. Again. Sift through it. Use what you can.
Don’t Cry Over Nothing.
Water’s Time by L. M. Montes
Water is as old as time,
the stories it tells
are yours and mine.
From whales to pirates,
from ships to wrecks,
these tales of old in our minds do rest.
The Pushoff
That moment before you start. Your mind is filled with so many thoughts. How do I begin? I know what I want to say; but how to write it in such a way that hooks the reader? Will what you write be good? Will it hook the reader? Will it inspire them? Will my beginning be as good as the beginning of my last book/story? What if I “sink”? What if it “takes off”? Yes, I can do this.
It’s all so thrilling isn’t it? You may have written many books/stories before and still have these questions going through your mind before you start. You want to make your readers happy, and you want them to have fun. Not to sound pessimistic, but we can’t please everyone. Many will enjoy your stories/books and many won’t. So, relax. Have fun. Don’t stress yourself out. The truth of it is, you have what I call “Your Circle”. These are the people who you trust to give you an honest critique of your writing before you publish your work. If your beginning, middle or end or anything in between doesn’t sound right, they will tell you. Listen to what they’re saying, take it into consideration, and go from there. If you’re new to the writing craft, your self-confidence may need to be built up more. If you are more experienced, you may have more confidence and so on.
Trust yourself. Based on your writing experiences you will come to know what is good and what needs to be scrapped. So…..DIVE IN. Enjoy.
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 